Gordon Reid (Robertson, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The federal Labor government is committed to investing in infrastructure that supports our community on the Central Coast. Our government understands how vitally important it is that we are building the infrastructure, like roads, that helps grow our region and create thousands of jobs.

I'm particularly excited about the federal and state Labor governments' $130 million partnership to upgrade Avoca Drive through Kincumber. This project includes widening Avoca Drive to two lanes in either direction, with improvements proposed to key intersections along this route. I made a commitment to the people of Robertson and the Central Coast that I would secure funding to address this traffic bottleneck. For too long the community has had to endure lengthy delays during morning and afternoon peak periods. This has meant longer travel times for motorists, less time with family and friends, and major inconveniences for industry and small business that require efficient transport networks. The $130 million of funding is now being utilised by Transport for NSW, and the project is progressing successfully.

Recently Transport for NSW announced that the community consultation had opened for the $130 million project. The community are now invited to review the concept designs and provide feedback and submissions on their preferred options. I was able to attend an information drop-in session on Tuesday 6 August at Kincumber Library, and here the community had the opportunity to meet with staff from Transport for NSW and review physical concept designs for the upgrade. I can report that the two drop-in sessions were an incredible success, with a large cross-section of the community participating in those drop-in sessions. For those not able to make the drop-in sessions, community feedback on the Avoca Drive upgrade project can still be submitted via the Transport for NSW website. Alternatively, interested residents can also email their feedback via the following email address, avocadr@transport.nsw.gov.au, or by mail to the Avoca Drive upgrade project team at PO Box 2030, Newcastle, New South Wales, 2030.

The Central Coast community has up to Sunday 25 August to provide feedback and a submission, and I strongly encourage the community to review the concept designs and select which option they would prefer. The more of our community that has a say in this project, the better the outcomes of the upgrade will be. Every submission and piece of feedback that is received by Transport for NSW is carefully considered and helps staff factor in local knowledge, which again will improve the upgrade.

I would also like to take this opportunity to update the parliament on the federal Labor government's $40 million Central Coast Local Roads Package. This funding was secured through my advocacy, in partnership with the federal member for Dobell, the Hon. Assistant Minister Emma McBride, and this $40 million is now with the Central Coast Council and being utilised to upgrade 46 individual road projects over the next four years, right across our great region. Already, we have seen much-needed local road renewals take place at Rickard Road in Empire Bay as well as along the Scenic Road at MacMasters Beach, with several more local roads to be renewed in this financial year alone, including the Esplanade at Ettalong Beach, Beach Street in Umina Beach and Hillcrest Street in Terrigal. Securing this $40 million Central Coast Local Roads Package was a significant win for the Central Coast, as previous federal members had neglected to invest in our region's local road infrastructure, consequently leaving behind deteriorated roads and traffic bottlenecks, leaving the Central Coast 10 years behind the rest of the state, if not the country.

The federal Labor government will never leave behind the Central Coast region like the previous federal member did. Just the other month, I welcomed Minister Kristy McBain to the Central Coast. The minister and I highlighted the fact that our government will provide the Central Coast Council with $24.3 million through the Roads to Recovery Program, which is an additional $10.5 million over the next five years than what was provided by the previous federal Liberal government. Projects already delivered through the Roads to Recovery Program in Robertson include pothole and surface repairs along Russell Street in East Gosford, with the overall investment being $950,556 funded by the Australian government, and improvements to Vicary Road in Terrigal, an overall investment of $150,000 in federal funding. Further, more than $4.3 million is flowing to Central Coast Council under phase 4 of the Local Roads and Community Infrastructure Program, which builds on over $19.2 million committed under phases 1 to 3. Future works include the patching and resurfacing of Wards Hill Road at Killcare Heights, from the Scenic Road to Maitland Bay Drive. This investment, totalling over $749,000, and improvements to Davistown Road at Saratoga, an investment of over $203,000, are both funded by the federal Labor government.

When it comes to road infrastructure on the Central Coast, I will always represent and advocate on behalf of my community. I encourage residents to contact my office should they wish to raise an issue or matters that affect their local roads. I frequently meet with residents to discuss the condition of local roads, and a recent example of that was when I met with residents at Nioka Avenue in Point Clare. Residents of Nioka Avenue contacted my office to raise their concerns about the increasing volume of traffic passing through their street. Nioka Avenue is narrow and services a local primary school, shops and a growing suburb. The driving conditions along the street are becoming unsafe according to the residents, with many calling on the Central Coast Council to honour its 2019 plans to upgrade the street with kerbing and guttering and footpaths. I have written to the Central Coast Council to request this action on behalf of the street's community.

Similarly, I have also met with residents of Hedlam Parade, in Springfield, who are also experiencing challenges with their local road. Residents living along Hedlam Parade are calling on the Central Coast Council to address the drainage issues affecting the street. Due to the topography of the area, following weather events like persistent rain or major storms the run-off from the nearby mountain floods properties and causes significant damage. This is primarily because the street lacks kerbing and guttering and drainage. In this instance I have again represented the residents of Hedlam Parade and written to the Central Coast Council requesting action to address these issues. This federal Labor government will always invest in the infrastructure that grows our communities, improves safety and increases efficiency. As the federal member for Robertson, I will always advocate for and represent my community on any local road matter or issue.

I will touch on a few further points on what is occurring in the electorate of Robertson where the Albanese Labor government has made a significant difference to people's lives. The urgent care centre was a significant signature policy piece we took to the 2022 federal election. I know that I, on many occasions, spoke about the urgent care centre at press conferences, when doorknocking and when phone banking. It's a new model of care in Australia. If you're too sick for the GP but not sick enough for the emergency department, now you have somewhere to go. It is an outstanding model of care, particularly on the Central Coast; we now have one clinic in the south, in the electorate of Robertson, and one in the north, in the electorate of Dobell, with a state urgent care clinic smack bang in the middle, in Long Jetty. These are not only assisting to ease pressure on our emergency departments locally but also making sure people can access the care they need when they need it.

I've had countless residents email my office, call in to the office and even schedule a meeting to talk about their experiences of how they have utilised the urgent care clinic. Whether it be for minor infections, broken bones that don't require surgery, the application of plaster following some radiographic imaging or making sure people have the medications they need for an acute exacerbation of an acute illness not requiring an emergency department, our urgent care clinics are making a difference on the Central Coast and right across the country. I know there are urgent care clinics further north and further south making a difference, and that's alongside some of our other signature health policies; I'm talking about the freezing of the PBS co-payment to make sure medications are more affordable and cheaper for more Australians, making sure people can get access to medications when they need them for an affordable price and making sure people can access longer scripts for those stable conditions when they need them.

Australians know—and I know everyone in this chamber knows it but I'm going to say it again—that you can only trust the Australian Labor Party to protect Medicare both now and into the future. We know bulk-billing and ensuring access to a doctor is the beating heart of Medicare. As the federal member for Robertson, I, along with everyone on this side of the chamber in the Australian Labor Party, know we will continue to defend Medicare.